Akko-chan's Got a Secret!
Akko-chan's Got a Secret! '(ひみつのアッコちゃん, ''Himitsu no Akko-chan), also known as '''The Secrets of Akko-chan, is a shojo manga and multimedia franchise by Fujio Akatsuka and Fujio Pro. Overview Loosely inspired by the 1942 film I Married a Witch. The fifth grader Akko (Atsuko Kagami) is gifted with a magic mirror that gives her the ability to transform into anything she wants. It is considered a pioneering work of the Magical Girl genre with this transformation tool, although its setting is more down-to-Earth and Akko isn't necessarily an action heroine type of character. The series marked a return to Akatsuka's shojo roots that had begun his career with Beyond the Storm. He relied on his then-wife Tomoko as his assistant to help him successfully convey a young girl's story.;Tomoko was responsible for drafting several possible concept designs of Akko, which paved the way for Akatsuka to develop her characteristic "beehive and ponytails" hairstyle from some of the hair ideas that his wife presented. Tomoko would also be consulted for fashion ideas for Akko and other female characters in the series, which she would also present various sketches. As the work unfolds, Akko gets into many tight situations with her mirror that will nonetheless be resolved in some way, or will use her transformations to learn secrets that she otherwise would not be privy to in order to figure out a solution. Nobody else may know of her abilities, though her grandfather becomes the only other character to learn about the mirror and use its power as well on a special occasion. Like various other Akatsuka serial works of the time, the ending is left open and like any other chapter, allowing no consciousness of the series being over and leaving Akko's daily life adventures free to presumably continue on as they normally would. This is in contrast to its anime adaptations, which would usually have a critical moment that would require Akko to use her mirror for saving someone, only for the mirror to vanish or stop working as a result of its power being used up. In the case of the 1969 and 1998 anime, her item's fate is final, while the 1988 version leaves a loophole open for Akko to be able to use it again whenever the need may ever arise. The Akko concept is one changed considerably throughout its serializations and adaptation, allowing the characters and technology to be tweaked to fit the changing times and the ideas of what young girls would be most interested in for a story. The English title is not consistent between rightsholders, with Fujio Pro using the first displayed above while Toei Animation prefers to use the second option. Characters For more details, see List of characters in Akko-chan's Got a Secret! Atsuko Kagami AKA: "Akko-chan", the hero of this work. By using her mirror or a mirror compact and a transformation spell, she can change her form with ease. Moko Akko's best friend, a tough tomboy. Kankichi Moko's younger brother. Ganmo Another younger boy in the neighborhood, often seen with Kankichi. Chikako A small girl who's a thorn in the side to the others, as she's often acting as a spy and briber. Taisho The bully of the school, who has a crush on Akko but doesn't know how to act properly around girls. Serialization See also List of chapters in Akko-chan's Got a Secret! Original Run *Ribon (Shueisha): June 1962-September 1965 This early period of the manga was significantly different from the ensuing anime adaptation by Toei and the Media mix-driven remakes of the manga that would follow. In the origin, Akko's favorite mirror is destroyed by a baseball, but she is suddenly approached by the mysterious "Man from the Mirror Country" who gifts her the new magic item. The spell is Akko reciting "Mirror, Mirror" and stating the name of what she wants to become in backwards syllables (ex: "Chikako" as "Kokachi"). At a later point, the larger magic mirror is broken but the mystery man returns to give Akko a somewhat smaller one to hold (in some reprint editions, this is changed to be the compact). The mirror can still be a liability in situations, especially if Akko's at risk of losing it or having to carry it around places. In this run, there is a restriction that Akko should not look directly at the mirror while trying to transform. There were also differences with Akko's supporting cast; there was no father in the picture due to him being away at work, her mother was a simple housewife, and Moko's brother Kankichi resembled a younger version of The Sextuplets from Osomatsu-kun. Akatsuka's Star System would noticeably be utilized in this work, with the aforementioned sextuplets showing up along with others from both Osomatsu-kun and Otasuke-kun. 2nd Run *Ribon (Shueisha): November 1968-December 1969 This run of the manga would be serialized as a tie-in to the new anime airing on TV. Some changes that had been made for the series were now appropriately reflected, such as the creation of the bully Taisho and his brother Shosho. Kankichi's design was also altered to fit the changes made for the anime adaptation. Akko now had a mirror compact, and her transformation spell became the "Tekumakumayakon, tekumakumayakon" chant of the Toei anime (with the detransformation of "Ramipus, Ramipus, rurururu"). Many chapters of the run were either slight revisions of the original Ribon stories or entirely redrawn. Only the first chapter and three others (including the final two) were newly-created, with the former showing a new origin story with Akko receiving her compact from the Mirror Spirit. In cases of chapters that only had minor revisions, the changes were usually limited to Akko's mirror being redrawn as the compact (and the spell changed) and a new head/face being pasted onto any appearances of Kankichi. In more significant revisions or redraws, Taisho and Shosho would be added to plots or there would be other changes and re-arrangements witnessed; Goma appears with Taisho in "Moriyama-sensei and Sato-sensei" even if he and Gyoro were otherwise left out of the new run. Changes that did not carry back to the new manga included the presence of Akko's father and Shippona, though Shippona did make it into the Mushi Pro picture books and some tie-ins that were more directly related to the anime series. Mushi Pro tankobon revisions However, when it would come to reprints of this run, the Akebono collection either represented stories from it or instead defaulted to earlier tweaked versions of chapters that had been included in the Mushi Pro tankobon released alongside the anime. These reprints of chapters would present inconsistencies when sourced for later editions such as Akebono, likely due to being set out of order; Sometimes Akko would still have her old mirror (to tie into the fact that they used a minor redraw of the first chapter rather than the newly-drawn Ribon origin) but would still chant "Tekumakumayakon" as she would in the anime, while sometimes the replacement mirror that she'd receive would be the new compact (which would negate that new Ribon run opening), and sometimes she would simply have the new compact to align with the anime and new origin. As with the new Ribon run however, the most major and consistent change made to chapters would be a new face for Kankichi being pasted over his appearances. There are cases, however, where there are oversights and where it was forgotten to paste the new face on, such as certain pages of "The Salesman's Goddess" where he has his old face and hairstyle. Picture Book Edition * Shogakukan Picture Book: March and November 1969 These were special activity books that contained remakes of various manga chapters, as well as all-new stories created specifically for each volume. Though these versions of chapters have not seen reprint, the Fujio Akatsuka Museum can be seen to have some original manuscripts for some of the pages on display. Grade Magazine versions *Kindergarten: January to November 1970 *1st Grade: June to November 1970 *2nd Grade: April to November 1970 *4th Grade: July to November 1970 Through the year of 1970, Shogakukan's elementary grade school learning magazines had their own full-color serializations of Akko-chan, due to the continued popularity of the first Toei anime. They wrapped up shortly after it completed its run. These versions have never seen reprint. Some magazines' comics were illustrated by the Fujio Pro assistants of Takao Yokoyama and Kunio Nagatani, or also by artists contracted by Toei Animation (particularly in the case of the Kindergarten version, where each chapter is basically a picture story with the anime designs). This leads to the characters looking more like the anime versions, and the coloring for the series tends to be inconsistent. For such reasons (and possibly leading to the lack of reprints), these versions tend to be overlooked as an Akatsuka work, even if his name was still credited to them. Young Version one-shot *Weekly Young Magazine (Kodansha): January 2, 1981 A one-shot by Akatsuka, featuring Akko and Moko now in high school. Akko attempts to find out whether a boy likes her or Moko more, but finds out that he is an embarrassing mazacon ("mama's boy") instead and vows never to use her mirror disguises again after being disturbed by the unpleasant revelation. Between that twist and an infamous scene of a junior high school-aged Kankichi being caught in the act of masturbating, the material in this one-shot is more mature-oriented and a little more crude than the classic manga fans had grown up with. 3rd Run *Nakayoshi (Kodansha): October 1988-September 1989 Another remake was issued to run alongside the second TV anime by Toei. This time, the series was given a more gag manga spin with more slapstick and rougher expressions, though the subject matter still remained appropriate enough for a kids' level. Both Akko's parents were present and redesigned, and Akko's cat Shippona and Taisho's henchmen were imported back to the manga with the Queen of Mirrors. Reprints * Kinran Company: 4 volumes (1964). This kashihon (rental manga) version contains color pages, and is the earliest known version in existence. * Mushi Pro Book: 3 volumes (1969), 2 volumes of "Picture book version" (1971). The first reprint contains a redrawn version of the first chapter that has been used in some subsequent publications, depicting Akko in a design more familiar to her decided look (as she originally lacked her hairband in the first Ribon chapter). Some chapters from the second run appear, although many chapters from the first run also made it in with noticeable changes. Meanwhile, the Mushi picture book volumes are a colored version of the revised manga seen in the previous release. * Kodansha Color TV Masterpieces: 1 volume (1971) * Akebono: 6 volumes kashihon (1965), "Complete Works", 5 volumes (1974), 1-volume paperback (1998). While many chapters from the first run were reprinted in the second release, those that were revised for the second run had their later versions included instead. Some other first run chapters were excluded from this reprint, and the "Complete Works" release presents an altered ordering of chapters, especially keeping in mind the inconsistency with the redraws in the 2nd serialized run and Mushi Pro reprinted versions. * Big Company: 3 volumes (1980), based upon the second Akebono release. * Kodansha: 2 volumes (1989), compiling the Nakayoshi run. These were later re-released in English in 2001. * Earth Publishing: 3 volumes (1994). Re-release of the Kinran Company version, but criticized for the poor reproduction of the image quality. * Shogakukan: "Pikapika Comics" 3 volumes (2005), "Fujio Akatsuka Complete Works" 8 volume set (2002). The first release mainly reprints the second run, while the second release is a re-bundling of the Akebono "Complete Works" and paperback and also includes the Nakayoshi volumes.The Weekly Young version one-shot can be found in the Akatsuka "1980s" collection from the same imprint. * Kawade Mook: 4 volumes (2009). This release contains colored versions of chapters sourced from the Kinran reprint of Akko-chan. While branded as the "Complete" version, there are some that feel it inaccurate due to that factor. This release covers the original Ribon run, with some of the new chapters from the second run. * eBookJapan: 5 volumes (2012). While this release is based upon the previous Kawade edition, the kashihon versions of chapters have been replaced with the original Ribon printings and the chapter structure has become different. Media Anime See individual pages for detailed information on each adaptation. Each anime adaptation has its own unique spin on the series, with various character settings being updated for each era. The occupations for Akko's parents are often different, as they are seen as being what a boy and girl's ideal jobs would be in the given time each series was made in. Akko's personality, her fashion, and even her very hair color may change, but the principles remain similar. * First work: Aired on NET from 1/6/1969 to 10/26/1970 for 94 episodes. It was produced by NET and Toei Animation. It introduced many changes that would resonate to subsequent adaptations, but often has a more melancholy and serious tone. Toei would also later screen five of the episodes theatrically. * Second work:' '''Aired on Fuji TV from 10/9/1988 to 12/24/1989 for 61 episodes. It was produced by Fuji TV, Toei, and Yomiko Advertising. Although the director Hiroki Shibata wished to emulate the original adaptation, Yomiko and Toei ordered the new series to be brighter and more comedic, which worked to its success. The anime-original characters of Kio and The Strange Old Man were introduced, with the latter designed by Akatsuka. Two theatrical films were released during its run. * Third work: Aired on Fuji TV from 4/5/1998 to 2/28/1999 for 44 episodes. It was another joint production between Fuji TV, Toei, and Yomiko. The character of Ippei the Penguin was newly created for this series. Unfortunately, the ratings and toy sales were poor, which lead to its early end and no theatrical film plans. As Fujio Pro's work output had decreased by this time, there was no 4th run of the manga to be had either. TV Drama ''Main article: Akko-chan's Got a Secret!:[[Akko-chan's Got a Secret!: The Story of the Dancing Girl of Izu| The Story of the Dancing Girl of Izu]] A live-action special aired on Fuji TV's Monday Dramaland on February 9, 1987. It was the third and final of their adaptations of Akatsuka's works. Much like Fuji TV's specials for Osomatsu-kun and Extraordinary Ataro, it has yet to ever receive a home video release and has never been rebroadcast. Live Action Film Spinoff: The Secrets of Akko-chan MYU A webcomic written by Hiroshi Izawa and illustrated by the Kamakita Twins began serialization on Comic Spinel on October 21, 2016. In this remake and updating of the series, Akko is a junior high student who receives the compact as part of a mission given to her by the Queen of Mirrors to protect her son Tokio. A new character is added as a mascot for Akko in the compact fairy known as "Chamira". It can be read for free on the publisher's website. The series was put on an unofficial hiatus after the release of the first volume, but started back up in April 2019. Overseas Releases See also: List of foreign dub names for characters of Akko-chan's Got a Secret! The two volumes of the Nakayoshi run of the manga were released with an English translation as part of Kodansha's Bilingual Comics imprint in 2001. Other than that, there has been no official localization for this form of the series. The anime adaptations would be seen in different countries under these titles: * Hong Kong: Received all three series. The first series ran under the title 小魔鏡 (Little Mirror) in 1979, while the second series was aired as 魔鏡魔鏡 (Mirror Mirro''r) by TVB Jade. * Taiwan: The second series is known as 甜蜜小天使 (''Sweet Little Angel) and was aired by CTS. * South Korea: The 1988 series would later be broadcast on Tooniverse under the title 거울요정 라라 (Mirror Fairy Lala) in 1996. * Italy: Received all three series, under the respective titles of Lo Specchio Magico, Un Mondo di Magia, and Stilly e lo Specchio Magico. ''Various characters underwent renaming. * France: The second series was localized under the title ''Caroline, but only the first 52 episodes were dubbed. All characters were renamed. * Spain: The third series would air under the title El Secreto de Akko. '' * Poland: The first series was dubbed as ''Czarodziejskie Zwierciadełko. * A Spanish-language dub aired in Latin American countries also exists of the first series, titled Los Secretos de Julie. References External Links * The Secrets of Akko-chan (1969) at Toei Animation official site * The Secrets of Akko-chan (1988) * The Secrets of Akko-chan (1998) * Akko-chan page at Koredeiinoda * Fujio Pro works page * Akko-chan μ at Comic Spinel * Toei Animation USA Catalog, Akko series listed under "Magic Girls" Category:Akko-chan's Got a Secret! Category:Shōjo works Category:Manga Category:Works serialized in Ribon Category:Works serialized in Nakayoshi Category:1960s works Category:1980s works